NVIDIA has announced its new nForce 500 series core logic chipsets, sporting a wide array of new features and goodies for mainstream and enthusiast users alike. After appearing on roadmaps in months past as MCE55, the new chipsets are officially known as the 590, 570, and 550.

The new 590 SLI is NVIDIA's new high-end chipset, supporting dual x16 PCI-Express lanes and six 3.0Gbps SATA ports without the need of an additional third party controller. Also featured are dual Gigabit Ethernet controllers making use of a new feature known as DualNet, which can essentially team the controllers to function as a single 2Gbps controller. Further networking improvements include hardware TCP/IP acceleration which takes load off the CPU, and FirstPacket technology which allows users to prioritize packets to their preference. For example, a gamer may choose to push his game's packets through first to keep pings down while simultaneously uploading to an FTP server.

Further extending its list of features are Max Overclocking and LinkBoost technology, which are sure to excite enthusiasts always in search of new toys to tinker with. LinkBoost allows for a 25% increase in bandwidth over the x16 PCI-E lanes by linking one lane each to the nForce 590 SLI SPP and MCP, which are themselves connected by a 5x HTT, 10GB/sec link. Expect boards featuring this solution from the familiar names such as Asus, MSI, Abit, and others.

Next is the 570, which appears in both SLI and Ultra versions. The SLI version will run SLI setups in a 2x8 configuration much like standard nForce 4 SLI chipsets on Socket 939 and 754 platforms. With the exception of LinkBoost and Max Overclocking, the 570 series includes all the new features mentioned above at a lower price tag.

Last we have the 550, which is essentially the standard nForce 4 chipset with the addition of 3.0Gbps SATA support. Therefore this chipset does not have any of the extras included with the 590 and 570 series. This low-end chipset will handle the mainstream market, but still requires a discrete graphics card.